PfotevsplotTell them apart

Which to use

“Pfote” and “plot” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,136
“Pfote” frequency rank
#19,342
“plot” frequency rank
59478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pfote plot
Definition (mit Ausnahme der Huftiere – vom Rind, Schaf, Schwein abgesehen, deren Extremitäten gelegentlich »Pfoten« anstatt »Klauen« genannt werden – und Primaten) bei landlebenden Säugetieren (zumeist Raubtieren) in Zehen gespaltenes Ende der Extremitäten Abgrenzung eines Grundstückes, meist aus Stäben oder einem Geflecht bestehend; Zaun

Where the eye mixes Pfote and plot

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Pfote
4 ch
plot

Look-alike desk: Pfote vs plot

A purely visual mix-up. Pfote ([ˈp͡foːtə]) and plot ([plɔt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pfote is recorded at frequency rank #40,136, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡foːtə]. plot is at rank #19,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced [plɔt].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 59478, this pair ranks #823,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pfote vs plot

Shared letters: opt. Private to "Pfote": ef. Private to "plot": l.

"Pfote" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "plot" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pfotefpote · pffote · pfoet · pfotte · pftoe · pofte · ppfote
  • plotlpot · pllot · plott · plto · polt · pplot

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pfote" for "plot" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈp͡foːtə] versus [plɔt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pfote" or "plot"?
"plot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,342 in our German list, against #40,136 for "Pfote". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfote" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "plot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #823,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pfote" and "plot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pfote vs ponte". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #823,069 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list